Trainer devoting his life to dogs

Though he’d always had pets growing up, Steve Gurski decided a decade ago to devote his life to dogs.In early 2002, Gurski went to Salmon Arm, B.C., for an intense three-week, 150-hour dog-training course at the Canada West Canine Centre. He took a grooming course around the same time.

Today, Gurski has three dogs of his own: Joey, a 12-year-old golden retriever; Tinker, a three-year-old cocker spaniel that technically belongs to his wife, Laurel; and Rocky, a two-year-old Rottweiler who is essentially a “115-pound lapdog.”

Over the years, Gurski did grooming on the side while working at other jobs, but jumped in with both feet in 2007. He now runs a home-based grooming business, Dapper Dog Spa, and does obedience training for dogs with socialization and aggression issues.

Q: What’s it like working as a trainer?

A: Basically what I’m doing is training the person to train the dog.I’m out for the love of the animal as opposed to making $1 million overnight. I love what I do.

Q: Have you ever been attacked?

A: I’ve been attacked a couple of times. I actually had one that came after me; it was a shepherd-Dalmatian-bull mastiff cross. He was about 150 pounds and I actually ended up going toe to toe with him. I was standing there talking with the owners. We were talking for about 45 minutes and I saw nothing. I turned around, I snapped off the leash and ... he grabbed me by the arm.I was down for a week. I wasn’t able to do anything; I could barely move my arms. But at the end of the day I ended up winning.

I sent him off to a behaviourist and from what I know now the dog is an absolute little angel, no problems, no issues.

Q: Have you ever dealt with a dog you haven’t been able to fix?

A: I’ve only ever had to physically tell one person to put their dog down because of aggression and I got my face ripped off for it. (The owners said) ‘We brought you out to help us, not tell us to put him down!’ I get a phone call two weeks later going, ‘We’re so sorry, we just got back from the hospital.’ Their kid got 27 stitches on the side of his face because the dog turned and snapped at him.The dog was put down. I just said I was sorry, ‘Hopefully your kid’s not going to be completely fearful of other dogs, other breeds, specifically that breed.’ I know I would be.

Q: What do you think of Cesar Millan?A: I love what he does, I’ve seen him twice, and he’s great with the dogs. The only problem is you’re seeing 10 minutes at the beginning of his show of ‘this is the problem.’ You’re getting 10 minutes of him doing the rehabilitation with the dog ... you’re not seeing the six, eight, 10, 12 months of work that he’s put into this dog.

Q: Have you ever had issues with your own dogs?

A: (Rocky) pushed the limits with me at the beginning. He was about 10 or 11 months old and he actually sat there baring teeth at me and I stepped up to the plate. He backed off right away and I’ve never seen him bare his teeth again.

Joey, he was a climber and he didn’t know where he was going. I burned three tanks of gas in the first month looking for him.

Q: How do your three dogs get along?

A: When we brought Tinker in, Joey instantly turned into daddy, taking care of her, cleaning her up. Joey actually walks the perimeter of the yard ... He taught her so its kind of a pack thing.Now that he’s started getting up there in age, I’ve actually noticed he’s starting to push it off to Rocky now, going ‘you’re the big boy, it’s your turn to start protecting.’ I watched Rocky two days ago walking the perimeter, doing the fence line.

(Tinker) does beat on Rocky and it’s hilarious. She’ll sit there and hang from his jowls and he’s the one crying at the end of it. It’s all play. I’ve never had a dogfight on my hands ever. They love each other.

Q: Why do you like having dogs around?

A: They’ll go for a walk or they’ll lay on the couch beside me and watch TV if that’s what I want to do. They’re game for just about anything, which is nice.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.